Flash Voodoo Custom Kernel To Nexus S

The wait is over – the first voodoo custom kernel has been released for the new Samsung / Google Nexus S, by XDA-Developers forum member supercurio. This Android kernel brings some performance improvements to the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread device. Continue reading after the jump to find where to get it from and how to flash it to your phone.

Disclaimer: Please follow this guide at your own risk. AddictiveTips will not be liable if your device gets damaged or bricked during the process.

This custom kernel is based on the stock Android kernel shipped with Nexus S, and has been modified very slightly. In fact the only modification done is to the ext4 mount options, to improve access speed to the /data partition. The performance boost is significant based on Quadrant scores – an increase from 1650 with the stock kernel to 2420 with this custom one. The results aren’t significantly noticeable by users however, since the stock kernel in itself is blazingly fast already.

A few users have reported trouble with Bluetooth on their phone after flashing this kernel, but other users have not had this problem. This is a known bug and the developer is looking into a fix. You can head over to this thread at XDA-Developers forums for updates or other bug reports. The developer suggests that you test the kernel prior to flashing it.

This kernel comes in two variants – a standard one and a rooted version. You can download the kernel of your choice from the links given below. To test and flash the kernel, follow these steps.

Before you proceed, make sure that your phone is rooted. If it isn’t, you can root it by following our guide on how to root Nexus S.

Extract the kernel’s image from the downloaded zip, and place it inside the ‘tools’ folder of your Android SDK installation.

Connect your phone to your computer via USB.

Open a command prompt window and navigate to the ‘tools’ folder of your Android SDK installation.

Issue the following commands in the command prompt window to test the kernel, replacing ‘kernel_name.img’ with the exact name of the kernel’s .img file that you’re using:

adb remount
fastboot boot kernel_name.img

Your device will now boot using that kernel. Play around with it and if you feel confidant enough to actually flash it, issue use this command in the command prompt window while your phone is connected to your PC, again replacing ‘kernel_name.img’ with the exact name of the kernel’s .img file that you’re using.

adb remount
fastboot flash boot kernel_name.img

That should update your kernel. Once you’re done, it’s a good idea to boot your phone into recovery and wipe its cache, dalvik-cache as well as battery status cache.